SINGAPORE — Former Citiraya Industries CEO Ng Teck Lee, 58, and his wife Thor Chwee Hwa, 55, were arrested in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on Dec 3, ending a 19-year manhunt for the couple over a US$51 million (S$68 million) embezzlement and corruption case.
Ng, once head of the listed recycling firm Citiraya Industries, allegedly diverted electronic scrap meant for destruction and sold it illegally overseas, particularly to syndicates in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Between 2003 and 2004, CPIB found that 89 tonnes of material across 62 shipments had been misappropriated.
The scheme came to light after a U.S. client’s scrapped chip resurfaced in Taiwan in 2004, triggering a CPIB investigation. The couple fled Singapore in January 2005 just as authorities began probing the scandal. Ng allegedly paid nearly S$2 million in bribes to staff and external collaborators to carry out the scheme.
12 individuals have since been jailed in connection with the scam. In 2011, Singapore authorities seized S$23 million in assets, including luxury properties and bank accounts, in what remains CPIB’s largest asset seizure from a single person.
Ng and Thor had been living under assumed identities, according to sources. Their arrest was made possible through cooperation between Singapore’s CPIB and Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). They were extradited the same day to Singapore and will be charged on Thursday — Ng for criminal breach of trust, and Thor under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act.
Vincent Lim, Director of Investigations at CPIB, praised the MACC for its support, stating:
“There is zero tolerance and no safe haven for those who choose to break our laws… CPIB will spare no effort to track them down wherever they may hide.”
Interpol Red Notices, arrest warrants, and an immigration stop list had been in place since 2005.
